This basalt head is representative of the so-called “egghead” style of portraiture popular in Ptolemaic Egypt, characterized by soft facial features and a bald head with an elongated cranium. It has been suggested that these “eggheads” resemble the heads of infants, which may tie them to hopes for eternal youth in the afterlife.

This particular example was once part of a larger-than-life-size statue of a dignitary, most likely from a temple.